Segregation In America

Another factor in the 1930’s that impacted African Americans is Jim Crow. The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities in Southern states of the former Confederacy, with, starting in 1890, a "separate but equal" status for African Americans. The Jim Crow laws affected African Americans by creating a status of 'separate but equal.' African Americans were not, under the Jim Crow laws, allowed to drink from the same water fountains as white people. They had to attend different schools, restaurants, and sit at the back of the bus. The Jim Crow laws affected almost every area of the life of African Americans. The Jim Crow laws took the first hit in 1954 in the ruling by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation was unconstitutional.

Segregation played a major role throughout the lives of the African Americans. They were viewed as unequal, and were set apart from the norms of society. In the South, the African Americans were forced to use water fountains for blacks only. They were refused service at many local restaurants, and forced to give up their seat on the bus to a white individual. African Americans wanted and needed to take action to gain equality. Throughout the years, they tried all they could to obtain equality and enjoy the same freedoms as the white population.

Apartheid was a set of racial laws that segregated the various race groups of South Africa. It came into power along with the National Party came into power in 1948. The government was ruled by all white members and they enforced racial segregation policies that served to benefit whites and put down other races. Some laws included not allowing certain races to live or even enter certain areas, known as pass laws. Another law prohibited whites and blacks from being together romantically. Even when Blacks got to work in some of the same field of jobs as whites, they were forced into black specific groups. Apartheid split the population into four groups. White being the most privileged and getting the most benefits; whites held the most control.

The Strange Career of Jim Crow by C. Vann Woodward explains the development of Jim Crow Laws starting in the period of Reconstruction until its legal demise in 1965. The book puts an argument against the question whether or not segregation had been around before the civil war, and argues that segregation had not always been that way. Before the Civil War, a close proximity was crucial between the societies in the South to maintain white supremacy above blacks. After the Civil War, a period known as Reconstruction began the physical separation of the blacks and whites to maintain white supremacy by keeping blacks and whites separated in physical facilities like schools, bathrooms, and all types of transportation. Although there was a physical separation between blacks and whites, there was not any kind of social strife between the races until the Compromise of 1877 and the forcible integration of the races. The period after Reconstruction began the push to set in laws known as Jim Crow Laws to legally separate the races, but because of the certain laws poor whites were also affected by things like literacy tests and poll taxes. The total effect of the Jim Crow Laws only benefited white elites like before the Civil War. Woodward breaks up his book between the different phases Jim Crow went through and explains the different reactions people took towards the growing segregation.

In Spite of the devastating history of segregation in the United States. A lot has changed in the past fifty years since segregation ended. The United States shifted from arresting African Americans for using “white only” facilities to integrated schools all over the country. Influential individuals such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr helped pave the way for African Americans to live as equals to along with their white counterparts in the United States of America.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an important act that was passed. It is the nation's premier civil rights legislation. Even though there were three amendments having to do with ending slavery, people still treated minorities unfairly until the act was passed. The federal government had to do something because of all of the conflict that was happening. It deeply affected American society.

About a hundred years after the Civil War, almost all American lived under the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow Laws actually legalized segregation. These racially enforced rules dominated almost every aspect of life, not to mention directed the punishments for any infraction. The key reason for the Jim Crow Laws was to keep African Americans as close to their former status as slaves as was possible. The following paper will show you the trials and tribulations of African Americans from the beginning through to the 1940’s where segregation was at its peak.

According to the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, blacks had the same legal protection as whites. The Supreme Court contradicted this when they allowed so called “restrictions” in the South against blacks. Those who supported Jim Crow generally lived in the South. They believed that whites were above the blacks, in things ranging from intelligence to morality. They thought sexual relations between the two races would ruin the nation, and violence could be used on blacks if needed. So, hospitals, beaches, parks, prisons, public restrooms and even water fountains were separated by color of skin. In certain areas, there weren’t even facilities for colored people (Pilgrim). African Americans also had to treat whites with respect, whereas whites did not have to, and most of the time would not treat the blacks the same. Blacks had to use titles when speaking to whites, they could not eat with the whites, and black men could not offer to shake a white mans hand. Preachers did not help with the problem, but in some situations made it worse. They would preach that God supported segregation, “the whites were the chosen people, and Blacks were servants” (Pilgrim).

It lessened the ability of many to succeed, control their own lives, and view themselves as equal human beings. Individuals were harmed mentally, emotionally, and sociologically by the legislation created during the Jim Crow Period, and societies were unable to bridge the gap between the two races from of a lack of understanding and interaction, caused by these laws. Racial segregation was injurious to all of America, not only those who were individually affected. All aspects of racial segregation-political, social, and economic- hurt individuals, society, and America as a

The Jim Crow laws perpetuated segregation. The laws were harsh constraints for African Americans, placed in the southern United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which promoted separation of races publicly. As stated by Pilgrim, “Plessy gave Jim Crow states a legal way to ignore their constitutional obligations to their Black citizens” (Pilgrim 3). These laws were passed to reaffirm dominance of Caucasian descendants by withholding civil rights to African Americans. According to author David Pilgrim, “Jim Crow states passed statutes severely regulation social interactions between the races” (Pilgrim 3). Examples of the restraints placed by the laws were the right for Blacks to vote, attend school together, and

After the Reconstruction Era ended, federal troops were removed from the South, and when they were gone white southerners began to start segregation among the African Americans.

The Jim Crow laws perpetuated segregation. This set of rules to show the dominance of the white race were absolutely appalling. They were mainly operated in the southern portion of the United States, but not exclusively. The Jim Crow laws “were in place from the late 1870’s until the civil rights movement began in the 1950’s” (“Jim Crow Laws”). Blacks and whites could not use the same drinking fountains, restrooms, or attend the same restaurants, churches, and schools. It was considered rape or an unwanted advance for a black man to offer his hand to a white woman. Another law was that african-american couples could not show affection towards each other in a public area because it “offended whites” (Pilgrim) along with countless more. There

The redlining practices of the Federal Government established economic segregation in San Antonio. Denying minorities access to federally backed home loans put them at an economic disadvantage when it comes to accumulating wealth. This also creates a cycle of poverty and crime in those neighborhoods.

Jim Crow Laws of segregation made black people less important and unworthy. On the other hand white people were looked at as superior and better. For example in Missouri black and white students had to go to different schools. Schools for white students were cleaner and nicer than schools for black students. Also, in areas where whites were only allowed, some signed said, “White only,” and “no pets.” This lowered black people down to the same level as animals bellow white people. Finally, drinking fountains were segregated for black people and white people. The water that was left over from the white drinking fountains would go into the black drinking fountain, giving them dirty, used water to drink from. In conclusion, black people didn’t

When discussing the bases of a well functioning society, the environment and residential area plays a crucial role. I chose the article, “How segregated are middle class blacks?”, and in this in depth article, the main focus is on the long-standing brawl between blacks living out of “ghetto” residential environments. Compared to their counterparts, middle class whites are usually stationed in better living conditions, granted they earn the same amount of income as a middle class black individual. This article does not only touch base on the institutional discrimination within the middle class community, but also race and poverty in middle class America.